A number of responses, both private and on MDOSPREY, convince me that late September is indeed 'late' for nighthawks. Now I wish I had kept better notes about the ones I saw in October 1996! In general, I think that those of us in the Piedmont may be on some 'nighthawk flyway'. A discussion on BIRDCHAT earlier this year suggests that in our area and in the midwest, flocks of up to a hundred or more are not unusual. Elswhere in the US, (e.g., the Atlantic coastal plain), people seem to feel themselves lucky if they see one or two. There has been some mention of 'nighthawk counts'. Is there a coordinated effort such as the hawk counts in the eastern US? Have there been any results published? Of interest may be the BBC count results that are on the Patuxent NWR server. A map of population density of nighthawks is at http://www.mbr.nbs.gov/bbs/htmra/h4200ra.html A map of population change is at http://www.mbr.nbs.gov/bbs/htmtr/h4200tr.html and a breakdown of pop. change by regions is at http://www.mbr.nbs.gov/bbs/htmt/t4200.html Fascinating stuff! Jim Jim Felley Smithsonian Institution irmss668@sivm.si.edu